Steering shaft repair

[thejunkman]

So, some time ago I drove a Long way to get a "good" manual steering column, after searching a while. The other night I finally tore it down for a bearing change and found out the shaft was pretty rough. Maybe .015" to .20" wear. Anyway, the budget is tight as I have a new baby on the way in September, so I am gonna repair it. I have an expert welder that is going to fill the bad area on his rotary indexer with his tig welder. Then I plan to turn it down to size on a lathe. I'll let you guys know how it turns out. Anyone ever done this?

[CrypticRacer13]

Ive done it plenty of times on machine shafts for my line of work. Still works years later

[thejunkman]

Well that's re-assuring. I just mic'd the shaft this morning. .037" of wear and out of round...

[68RGR]

Way, way back, I worked a year in the engineering department of a good sized paper mill.

They were into all sorts of maintenance gimmicks. One was to renew LARGE stainless augers (like 24" diameter) by welding new material on the worn areas and grinding, machining them back down to spec. It was a novel idea to me at the time - A guy sitting there welding on a 20 or 30 foot long giant screw. Oh, the augers moved material like wood chips or whatever horizontally in the plant.

Anyhow, your plan sounds pretty solid to me.

[CrypticRacer13]

Way, way back, I worked a year in the engineering department of a good sized paper mill.

They were into all sorts of maintenance gimmicks. One was to renew LARGE stainless augers (like 24" diameter) by welding new material on the worn areas and grinding, machining them back down to spec. It was a novel idea to me at the time - A guy sitting there welding on a 20 or 30 foot long giant screw. Oh, the augers moved material like wood chips or whatever horizontally in the plant.

Anyhow, your plan sounds pretty solid to me.

Yup done this a ton of times at our plant. Much cheaper then replacing the whole unit

[Red Mercury]

It will be as good as new when done. I have welded shafts like this with an oxyacetylene outfit, hammered them smooth and straight on an anvil as it cooled, and put the finishing touches on it with a file. Very old school blacksmithing. Use your modern approach and it will turn out perfect. In these "throw it away and buy another" times it is good to hear of someone actually wanting to repair something like this. If we conserve parts like this then the supply of used parts might last a little longer.....wouldn't that be nice?

[thejunkman]

It will be as good as new when done. I have welded shafts like this with an oxyacetylene outfit, hammered them smooth and straight on an anvil as it cooled, and put the finishing touches on it with a file. Very old school blacksmithing. Use your modern approach and it will turn out perfect. In these "throw it away and buy another" times it is good to hear of someone actually wanting to repair something like this. If we conserve parts like this then the supply of used parts might last a little longer.....wouldn't that be nice?

I love old school blacksmithing... one of these days I want to try it out. As far as how mine went, finished it up sunday, it turned out pretty good. I haven't installed it yet, as I'm waiting for bearings, but I'm pretty confident it's going to work well. My approach stemmed from necessity, but it's pretty rewarding and I am going to make an effort to do more of this type of stuff to save money, and just for the sense of accomplishment.

[thejunkman]

This is what it looks like now. I'm sure you all know what a bad one looks like...





I'm so bad at taking before and after pics. I just charge into stuff to get it done....

[CrypticRacer13]

Good job man! Keep it alive

[thejunkman]

So I got in my bearings from npd, (Came in Fomoco bags which was nice) rebuilt the column and slapped it in. MY GOD, what a difference. I can actually turn the wheel with one hand now. It's amazing. Some of that is also due to the new cab mounts, and the cab not sitting on the column. But I feel like I have power steering compare to what I had before. That is just pushing it around the garage steering it. I have yet to do a road test. Maybe this week.

[lennyp]

Awesome job.